The devastation heroin wreaks in a person’s life is a persistent reality to those in law enforcement.

“It’s a sad, sad situation when you encounter these people and see how destructive and how it just erodes all of your life,” said Lower Frederick Police Chief Paul Maxey.

Maxey said he’s seen a few extreme cases of heroin addiction.

“We had a case recently where a woman was arrested and charged after she had driven to a neighboring community to score heroin and couldn’t wait to shoot up until she was back where she resided in our community,” he said. “She was shooting up and, in the process, had an accident on one of our roads, almost struck another vehicle, flipped the car over.”

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In neighboring Limerick Township, Detective Ernie Morris said one particular addict is very familiar to police.

“He overdosed three times and was brought back to life. He was given CPR by police officers,” Morris said. “And he’s still doing it.”

The strength of the addiction’s hold on those who use heroin or abuse opiate drugs causes many to turn to stealing from others to feed their habit.

“I would have to say 90 to 95 percent of our serial burglars, serial property crimes are related to, if not heroin, opiate addiction,” said Limerick Detective Matt Daywalt.

Daywalt said drug users go for jewelry with resale value and easy to grab items. Addicts often leave behind items of more value because they have their minds set on one thing – stealing items easily converted to cash or trade for drugs.

“A lot of the burglaries we get where they’re right in a string, where they’re bypassing valuable items or cash is even left on the counter,” indicates that a robbery is likely for drugs, Daywalt said.

“They’re walking past the cash because they’re set, ‘Okay, I go in, I get the jewelry, I get out…’ We kind of have an idea that there’s something there, some kind of addiction. Nine times out of 10, it’s an opiate addiction.”

“You will always find that they rifle through medicine cabinets because they are always looking for the opiate drugs that they could take to stave off the fix,” Maxey said. “Or it might be another drug that they could turn around and trade on the street for heroin.”

One elderly man’s blood pressure medicine was taken, Maxey said, likely because the addict saw the label and thought it could be peddled on the streets.

Money change jars are a frequent target.

“It’s a quick, untraceable source of income,” Maxey said.

Metal, jewelry thefts linked to drugs

The theft of metals like copper from power substations has also been linked to addicts because resale offers quick cash.

Both Maxey and the detectives in Limerick said addicts tend to stay away from items that bear serial numbers because they are traceable when pawned.

An uptick in daytime burglaries in Lower Frederick and surrounding townships last summer and fall were thought to be opiate-related, according to Maxey.

“It’s a little unusual because the person is taking a much bigger risk,” he said of breaking into homes during the day. “They could be seen by the neighbor, they’re not aware of what the schedule of the homeowner is…And you don’t have that cover of darkness.”

Those daytime burglaries are usually messy and denote someone not as experienced or careful.

“We’re finding that these burglaries are unsophisticated. When they get in the home they’re causing large amounts of damage that is readily noticeable when the homeowner returns,” Maxey said. “A really good cat burglar will get into your house and out and you’ll never know they were there.”

The burglaries often carry the marks of a “smash-and-grab” mentality, he said.

“It’s part of that drug influence where it’s the frenzy coupled with the fact that it’s the daytime and they want to get out as quick as possible,” Maxey said.

According to him, his department deals with roughly three burglaries a month that are likely drug-fueled.

Such crime affects many people well outside the influence of heroin.

“We had a woman who had lost her husband,” Daywalt said. “She lost her husband’s wedding ring to a burglar. It was from the 1950s. It’s not necessarily the financial cost, either. It’s the sentimental value, too.”

Increasing drug use increasing crime caseload

Daywalt said police caseloads are increasing due to increasing drug use in the suburbs.

The high number of addicts with diseases like hepatitis are also a risk to his officers’ safety, Maxey added.

In trying to knock down the influence of heroin in the area, the Limerick detectives said there were some issues working against them.

Daywalt said dealers often operate outside his jurisdiction and just feed heroin and opiates into the township.

Maxey said taking out dealers is one of his biggest concerns.

“We know through history that people who distribute drugs have been armed,” Maxey said. “That has always been a concern for me.”

Police said there is no clear pipeline of the drugs into the area.

“It’s invasive,” Daywalt said.

Officers say that heroin is far-reaching in the area and they don’t see it going away soon.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 20 years and I’ve lived through the crack cocaine phase and the cocaine and the other drugs we’ve seen come and go for the popularity,” Maxey said. “But heroin, it seems to me, is that one drug that’s still there. It’s still present and it still causes issues.”

Opiates and heroin can affect any group

The drug affects people across all socio-economic backgrounds, police said.

Daywalt said the police come across addicts when they’ve committed a crime or have overdosed, and there isn’t much in-between.

Most addicts fall in the age-range of late teens to those in their 40s, according to Daywalt.

The age-range drops off at the end because of the deadly nature of heroin.

“We don’t come across 50- and 60-year-old people on heroin,” Daywalt said. “At that point, they’re either dead or … it’s unfortunate to say, but at that point, they’re dead. You don’t see a 60-year-old addict.”

“There’s not only the actual, physical risks of taking a chemical substance that you don’t know the strength of or the potency,” Maxey said. “But it’s also just watching the human body break down after living in those conditions. Heroin addicts are often not eating and feeding themselves properly. They’re living on the drug.”

Daywalt remembered an addict he dealt with who was in his early 20s, had a child and was living with his girlfriend.

“He snapped one day, for whatever reason, and (the man and his girlfriend) got into an argument,” Daywalt said. “He was holding the child in a way he shouldn’t … he shook her. So I took him for endangering a child.”

The man’s case went through court and he went to jail for a period of time.

“I actually saw him, years later, at district court, they were paying a fine for something unrelated,” Daywalt said. “But he shook my hand and thanked me, said, ‘I was an opiate addict, I had all these problems but you helped me. I got my life back on track.’”

About the Author

Frank Otto is a general assignment reporter covering Phoenixville, Limerick and Spring-Ford schools in addition to features and spot news. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Otto moonlights with the sports department on occasion. Reach the author at fotto@pottsmerc.com
or follow Frank on Twitter: @fottojourno.